North Star

He was silent then and I remembered the strange letter he had written Anna Sandford. 'Like you, I never had the opportunity — not after this.' It was just a flat statement, no bitterness, his hand touching the scars. But he kept clear of Gertrude after that, switching to the North Star contract, and to Villiers. 'You're a loner, that's your trouble. Now Ian's got the contract, and deserves it. He gets around, that boy, lots of friends, and he's a Shetlander. Oil companies, men like Villiers, they don't think about the islanders or their livelihood, just as they never thought about the Arabs until it was too late. You've met Villiers, haven't you?'

'Yes.'

'Admire him?'

'Somebody else asked me that — a man called Stevens.'

'Well, I'm asking you now.' The name didn't seem to have registered. 'When a man changes his mind about the social structure he wants, he often leans so far over in the opposite direction-'

'I haven't changed my mind,' I told him. 'If anything has changed, it's the society in which we live. Militants are less concerned with justice. They want anarchy now.'

'Do they?'

'You know they do.'

'I know nothing of the sort. I think it's you who have changed.'

'I'm not an anarchist,' I said. 'I never have been.'

'So now you're against all progress towards a fairer, more equitable world.'

I laughed. 'You don't believe that any more than I do. The world's never been fair, never will be. Men are not born equal. And if you don't recognize that, then all I can say is that it's you that has never grown up. You're still a Communist, I take it?'

He hesitated. 'Yes.'

'A Russian-style Communist?'

'If you like.'

'You came here from Russia during the war.'

'From Norway.'

'In 1942. On board the Duchess.' And I added, hoping to get something positive out of him. 'You were an agent up in the north of Norway. A foreign agent?'

I saw his eyes narrow. 'Whose side were you on — Russia's or ours?'

'Britain and Russia were allies.'

'And that salves your conscience. But now? What side are you on now?'

He sighed. 'Does there have to be sides? Nobody is at war. Not here.'

'No, not in the old sense of the word,' I said. 'But a new style of warfare — economic war.'

'Ah, yes, the London School of Economics. Just because your head has been stuffed with economic fallacies, you don't have to turn your coat at the first whiff of the real thing. And even if the world is temporarily short of energy, it doesn't mean.that men like Villiers should gamble lives and risk the future of the Shetland fishery to keep themselves and their City friends afloat. Villiers, in particular. He's stripped others' assets so often, it would only be poetic justice if his own assets were stripped for a change. You surely don't support men like that?'

'Of course I don't.'

'Then what are you doing, coming up here, trying to resolve your doubts by digging up your father's past, and then salvaging a trawler and pretending you're a capitalist?'

'Only this,' I said. 'I think it's time we started picking up the pieces, instead of trying to destroy everything — before it's too late.' And I added, 'You ask my reasons, but what the hell are you doing here?'

'You forget, I'm a Shetlander. I belong here.'

But that was not the answer. 'Stevens,' I said. 'A man calling himself Stevens.' Not a muscle of his face moved, no sign of recognition, not even when I described the man to him, the hard mouth, the slight squint. But when I repeated what he had said about rehabilitation and not many surviving, I thought he winced, a muscle on the right of his jaw tightening. 'Were you returned to Russia, after the war?'

He laughed, a conscious effort. 'What are you, a Nationalist now? An Empire Loyalist? Patriotism in place of Communism that you speak of Russia as though it were a hostile power?'

'I was never a Communist,' I said. 'In theory, yes. But not a Party member.'

'And now? What are you now?' He was suddenly leaning forward, his eyes fixed on my face. And when I said that perhaps that was what I had come to Shetland to find out, he smiled. 'Seeking the answer in me, eh? In my life.' He let his body fall back, the wings of the high chair framing his face. 'Well, now you've found me and I have no answer for you.' He sounded tired then, as though talking to me had proved too exhausting. Or was it the memory of the long years that were a locked secret in his mind? 'You mentioned a need for picking up the pieces. I could help you there.'

'How?'

'I have some influence with Ian. Otherwise I wouldn't be living here in his hotel. You and he have this in common, you both want to be owners. You know he's got three of the larger fishing boats working for him now. Two will share the standby job on North Star, the other, which he has just arranged to charter, will ferry stores out to one of the rigs on the Dunlin field.'

'And that doesn't worry you, that he's working for Villiers and the oil companies?'

A slight movement of the shoulders, almost a shrug. 'He wants to make money. Why not? He's only doing what everybody else is doing.'

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if he knew North Star had had two of its anchor cables cut by an explosive device, but I checked myself. 'Where's he find the capital?'

'Borrows it.'

'From you? Are you providing him with funds?'

'I never had any capital. I don't believe in it.'

'How long have you been here?" His mouth was a tight line and he didn't reply. 'Was it a fishing vessel put you ashore about two months ago?'

'You ask too many questions,' he said, and I knew by the set look on his face that he would never disclose where he had come from or what he had been doing all these years. 'It's your own position you have to consider, not mine. I'm told you're out of a job. And on the run. Is that right?' Suddenly his manner, the atmosphere between us, had subtly changed. 'Ian had a call yesterday to say the police were making enquiries about you in Lerwick.'

'Why should anybody telephone to tell him that?' My throat felt dry, the net closing again and my liberty threatened.

'The boy's in local politics and his friends keep him informed.' He paused, and then he offered me the way out: 'He needs a skipper for his new boat. He'd give you the job if I told him to. And on a supply run to the Dunlin field you'd be clear of the police.' He left it hanging in the air and reached for his stick. 'No need to make up your mind immediately. Sleep on it.' He got to his feet. 'I'm going to bed.' He smiled, and now that I could see the other side of his face more clearly the smile sent cold shivers down my spine. 'Be nice for an old man to have both his sons with him for a while.'

'And if I don't take the job?'

He looked at me, the smile gone and the blue eyes hard. 'You will.' He said it emphatically. 'You've no alternative. And nor have I in view of some of the questions you've been asking. You can't keep your mouth shut and if the police got hold of you… I can't risk that.' He was frowning, the scars showing in the glow of the peat fire. 'And then there's that girl of yours,' he added. 'I don't know what.you've told her about me, but if she were to learn that you had found me, still alive and here at Burra Firth..' He moved slowly to the door. 'Think about it, my boy. You're committed now. You're one of us.' He was at the door then and he smiled at me. 'Just remember that.' And he nodded, 'Good night.'

I couldn't help it. I suddenly blurted out, 'So you're the organizer, are you? They sent you here to organize the-1 'Organizer of what?'

'The oil-' My voice faltered before his steady gaze. 'Oh, I don't know,' I said. 'I just thought-'

'You should have learned by now to keep your thoughts to yourself.' And he turned and went out, leaving the door open behind him. I don't know whether he meant it as a warning or whether he was simply giving me the benefit of his own experience. I heard the sound of his voice, then the tap of his stick, the slow tread of his feet on the stairs, and I went out into the other room to find Ian Sandford waiting for me. The others had gone and he was alone. 'Well, now you've talked to him, do you want the job?' He was smiling, a gleam of humour. 'He says you can have it if you like.'